CBSE Class 12 re-exam on April 25 : HRD ministry

CBSE Class 12 re-exam on April 25, decision on Class 10 retest in next 15 days: HRD ministry

HRD department has announced new dates for for Class 12th Economics retest after news of paper leak few days before. This will surely affect the students who will be thinking of preparing for various competitive exams are stuck with the re-examination. This has affected more than 28 lakh students and their families.

Class 10th paper leak was restricted to Delhi, NCR, Punjab and Hariyana, retest of class 

10th exam will be conducted only in these regions.

CBSE 10th and 12th Exams will be Reconducted

 CBSE announced on Mar 28, 2018 that the two papers of   class 10th and 12th will be re-conducted on account of     paper  leaked earlier before the examination.This has shocked lakhs of students who will again have to write the exams. my students are under the fear that the paper might be difficult and will not be same as of the previous one.

This is also raised alarm to the CBSE and forced them to have a probe on this, Delhi police is probing the matter of paper leak and promising to take the appropriate action against the defaulters.

Even though CBSE is promising to take all the action against the guilty but the damage is already done to the clean Image of CBSE. This year, 16,38,428 students registered for Class X and 11,86,306 for the Class XII board examinations. 

This is first time we have every heard and noticed such Incidents coming from CBSE. 

PNB plans to stake claim in insolvency proceedings of Nirav Modi company

NEW DELHI: Punjab National Bank (PNBBSE -3.42 %) plans to take part in 
the bankruptcy proceeding of Firestar Diamond, a group company of jewellery 
designer Nirav Modi who has been accused of defrauding the state-run bank of nearly Rs 
13,000 crore. 

The bank is exploring all options for the recovery, including participating in the bankruptcy 
proceeding of Firestar Diamond Inc, sources said. 

According to sources, the bank is in the process of hiring legal experts to take the matter 
forward. The legal firm would be hired soon. 

Various pros and cons are being examined in order to make watertight case for the recovery, sources said, adding the bank is part of unsecured creditor category. 

When contacted, PNB declined to comment on the matter. 

Last month, Firestar Diamond, a company owned by Nirav Modi filed for bankruptcy in a New York court. The US Trustee Program oversees administration and litigation for enforcement of the bankruptcy law. 

Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi in connivance with certain bank officials allegedly cheated the PNB of Rs 12,968 crore through fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs). 

A Mumbai branch of PNB had fraudulently issued LoUs for the group of companies belonging to Nirav Modi since March 2011. 

Different investigating agencies, including CBI and Enforcement Directorate, are probing the fraud, dubbed as the biggest banking scam in the country. 

Scam-hit PNB had issued as many as as 1,590 LoUs to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and their associates. 

The total number of LoUs issued to the companies of Nirav Modi, his relatives and the Nirav Modi Group are 1,213, and to Mehul Choksi, his relatives and the Gitanjali Group are 377. 

The amount of repayment made by the companies against each LoU cannot be currently ascertained as the matter is under investigation, Finance Ministry in a reply to Parliament said. 

PNB has apprised that payment of LoU is a contingent liability and may fall back upon the bank on due date only if the same is not paid on or before due date by the buyer. 

Following the scam, the Reserve Bank has stopped banks from issuing LoUs and Letters of Comfort for trade finance. 



Fresh seizure of jewellery, watches, paintings worth ₹26 crore from Nirav Modi’s Mumbai apartment

The ED has notified Interpol for a global arrest warrant against him and Mehul Choksi as they have left India early this year and have not appeared before it after summonses were issued to them. A fresh seizure of antique jewellery, costly watches and paintings of Amrita Sher-Gil and M.F. 

Hussain worth ₹26 crore has been made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the sea-facing Mumbai apartment of diamantaire Nirav Modi in connection with the over ₹12,000 crore PNB fraud case.  Officials said the ED, along with the CBI, launched fresh searches on March 22 at the Samudra Mahal luxury residential flats of Mr. Nirav Modi in Mumbai’s Worli area, resulting in the recovery of the fresh valuables.  

Antique jewellery, worth ₹15 crore, costly watches valued at ₹1.4 crore, and paintings of acclaimed artists like Amrita Sher-Gil, M F Hussain and K.K. Hebbar, valued at ₹10 crore, were seized over the last three days under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.

Diamond ring worth ₹10 crore seized A lone diamond ring in this cache is valued at ₹10 crore, they added.  

The ED has filed two money laundering FIRs against Nirav Modi and his uncle and Gitanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi to probe the alleged over ₹1,200 crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB).  

The ED has notified the Interpol for a global arrest warrant against the two as they left India early this year and have not appeared before it after summonses were issued to them. A Mumbai special court has issued non-bailable warrants against them on the ED's request.  It has conducted a total of 251 country-wide searches in this case after it began the criminal probe against the accused in February.  

The total seizure and attachment of diamond, gold, precious and semi-precious stones and other movable and immovable assets in the case stand at ₹7,638 crore.


Modi's flagship crop insurance scheme loses sheen as coverage area reduces 

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government's flagship crop insurance scheme, launched with much fanfare two years ago, has witnessed negative growth this year as the coverage has reduced to 24 per cent of gross cropped area (GCA) in 2017-18 from 30 per cent in 2016-17. This, when the actual target for the current year was 40 per cent.   

Similarly, the number of farmers insured during both the kharif and rabi seasons has gone down by 14 per cent this year.   In 2017-18, the area insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was 47.5 million hectares, as per the data accessed by IANS, which translates into 24 per cent of the GCA of 198.4 million hectares. 

After the PMFBY was launched in February 2016, the area under coverage had gone up to 30 per cent in 2016-17 from 23 per cent under the old schemes a year ago. 

As per the government's targets, the coverage in 2017-18 should have increased to 40 per cent but has actually reduced to 24 per cent.

Thus, the government's final target of bringing 50 per cent (98 million hectares) of the GCA under the PMFBY in 2018-19, which has been allocated Rs 13,000 crore in the Budget, appears to be an impractical goal. 

Riding Shatabdi on some sections may become cheaper

NEW DELHI: Fares in premium Shatabdi trains on sections with low passenger occupancy could be slashed soon as the railways looks to ensure optimum utilisation of resources, a senior government official has said. 

The national transporter has identified 25 such Shatabdi trains in which this scheme could be implemented, the official said. 

"Indian Railway is actively working on a proposal in this regard," the official told PTI .

The move to lower fares is encouraged by the success of a pilot project launched on two routes last year. In one section, where the pilot scheme was implemented, the earnings went up by 17 per cent and passenger bookings by 63 per cent, the official said. 

The development comes at a time when the national transporter is facing flak over the flexi-fare scheme and the general contention that it has led to a spike in fares in Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto trains. 

The Railways runs around 45 Shatabdi trains and these are among the fastest in the country. 

The Railways had last year launched a pilot project in two Shatabdi trains -- one running between New Delhi and Ajmer and the other between Chennai-Mysuru to study the impact of lowering of fares. 

Under the scheme, the fares were reduced between Jaipur and Ajmer, and Bengaluru and Mysuru -- the sections of the route which witnessed perpetual low occupancy. 

"The move yielded positive results for us. What we did was we offered fares in these premium trains equivalent to bus fares plying on the particular stretch," the official said. 

In the case of the Shatabdi to Ajmer, he said, the occupancy was low between Jaipur and Ajmer as people preferred to travel by buses which offered more affordable fares. To attract passengers, the Railways decided to match the bus fare in the premium train and reduced the ticket prices to about Rs 300 in this section. 

Similar step was also taken in the Shatabdi train between Chennai and Mysuru. The fares were reduced between Bengaluru and Mysuru, resulting in 63 per cent growth in passenger bookings on this stretch between January and November last year compared to the corresponding period the previous year. 

The official said the measures being adopted are part of an exhaustive exercise initiated by the Railways for optimum utilisation of resources. One such exercise is reducing the layover time of a of a train for introducing more services. 

By reducing the layover time of trains, the official said, the Railways was now looking to run 100 new trains on shorter and longer routes. While 25 new trains have already been introduced, 75 more would be run within this year. 

Layover time refers to the time a train remains stationed at the terminating or originating point. This time is being utilised to run the train on new routes, optimising the resources. 

STC, MMTC merger on cards: Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu

NEW DELHI: A merger of state-run trading firms MMTCBSE -5.54 % and STC is on the cards and the matter is under process, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said. 

"That is something which is already on cards because STC unfortunately has become a sick company. Therefore, there are some measures which are being taken already and this matter is under process," Prabhu told PTI. 

He said this while replying to a question whether the government is moving ahead on the proposal to merge Metals & Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) and State Trading Corporation (STC). 

STC, Project & Equipment Corporation of India (PEC) and MMTC are under the administrative control of the ministry. 

Earlier, the commerce ministry had commissioned a study to work out a new structure for three state-owned trading firms MMTC, STC and PEC. 

While the government wholly owns PEC, it has about 90 per cent stake in MMTC and STC. 

The merger of MMTC and STC would result in synergy of operations. MMTC and STC were created in 1963 and 1956, respectively. PEC Ltd was carved out of the STC in 1971-72. 

According to industry observers, these state trading companies have lost their relevance as well as business following liberalisation. 

MMTC used to be a canalising agency for import and export of non-ferrous metals and fertilisers. Similarly, STC was a canalising agency for imports of essential items of mass consumption such as wheat, pulses, sugar and edible oils. 

PEC was engaged in export and import of machinery and railway equipment. 

In 2016-17, MMTC incurred a loss of about Rs 30 crore. STC too reported a loss of Rs 16.5 crore in the last fiscal.